Question about Japanese name endings

[CuPoNoOdLe]

Ok, so i watch anime and they got these endings after names. For example Amy Chan or Amy San, or Naruto Kun or Tsunade Sama (Woot go Naruto). I wonder what the endings mean and if there are more. Also i would like to know when to use them.

I learned from my cousin that sama is used to honor people.. hum and kun is used only for guys, i would like to learn more!

Thanks :D!

[Joe]

I am by no means an authority on this, but I vaguely know the following
San - politeness, you ussually say this as a polite way of referring to someone, I believe, and since japan is big on politeness, expect to use this a lot.
kun - young boy
chan - young girl
sama - something to do with authority
sempai (senpai?) - something to do with upper classmen
There are tons more, but I can't remember or probably know them.

[Benaire]

Chan = cute friend type thing
San = Standard for people you dont know etc.
Kun = more boyish?
Sama = for older, high postion people.

Thats my take on it.

[Mr.Babalo]

there's also

dono = I read in a book once, something to do with honoring someone, a samurai esspecially.



i think.

[Henjin]

君「くん」(kun) isn't just for young boys. It's used for guys too... The way I see it (and I'm probably wrong), if you're going to use 君「きみ」(kimi) to refer to the person, you could use 「君」as well... since they're the same kanji... *shrug*
And they usually use ちゃん(chan) for animals as well. My sister named her dog Sunami, and they were calling her 「スナミさん」. I'm like, I think that should be 「スナミちゃん」.

[koku]

well kun is just used more on boys because It would be kind of wierd to say it to a girl. I guess since she's a girl she gets a step higher and gets san(BS!!).

San is just polite and nuetral. use it and you really can't fail. Ah but if you're ever a teacher and you see a group of boys, never give them san. Infact just point and call them anata tachi. They will love that.

[Monkey]

Kun is used for male children, chan for female children.

Kun is also used for male friends. Chan isn't so much used for female friends though.

Antoher way to think of it is chan is for cute people/animals. Therefore it gets used for children.

As you all know that saying a girl is cute in Japan is about the same as saying she's hot in any other country, therefore if you (a guy) use chan for a female friend, it would be odd because it could mean that you're implying you think she is hot. It can be ok if done jokingly of course.

Also the ending changes depending on who you are talking to. For instance, if I was talking about my friend Tanaka to another friend, then I would use kun. If I was talking about Tanaka to a relative stranger then I would use san.

Sama is used for people in a position of respect or authority. Ie. A government minister. It is again a matter of relative position though. You do not have to use -sama you can jut use -san. If you use -sama you are indicating a high level of respect for this person (but it can also be taken as sucking up to the person however).


The two least used are -dono and -hime. Dono is a bit old fashioned and I'll don't think you'll hear it outside of anime or japanese historical drama. It is mainly used to refer to respected warriors in such cases (they tend to be old as they have the most respect).
Hime technically means princess although it does have other uses. It can be used to refer to a particularly beautiful woman for instance. Or the daughter of a rich man might be referred to with -hime by the servants.

[mediocre]

I've heard femalename-kun in the workplace

[KujiInRetsu]

There are also honorifics that are used outside of the standard Tokyo dialect. Kansai-ben uses やん in place of さん, and はん in place of 客さん. Well, the last one I'm not so sure about, but はん is primarily used in reference to a store customer, I know that much.

[Kustom]

Kun is used for male children, chan for female children.

Kun is also used for male friends. Chan isn't so much used for female friends though.

Antoher way to think of it is chan is for cute people/animals. Therefore it gets used for children.

As you all know that saying a girl is cute in Japan is about the same as saying she's hot in any other country, therefore if you (a guy) use chan for a female friend, it would be odd because it could mean that you're implying you think she is hot. It can be ok if done jokingly of course.


Absolutely not! I use -chan for all my female friends and I have yet to be stabbed by their boyfriends... Chan doesn't mean "hot" at all (unless you have a very weird mindset), it means kind of cute but you use it for friends (girls can also call guys chan instead of kun, especially if there is no age difference. I get called chan a lot too)

"Kawaii", cute, is used in plenty of situations by everyone (mostly girls though) to talk about mostly anything (kawaii, steki and oishii constitute about 95% of girls vocabulary on TV). It does not mean "hot" although it could in certain specific situations that I doubt you will encounter. You are in fact encouraged to use it since it's a kind of uncommiting compliment all girls will be happy to hear.

The chan and kun thing:
- Kun is used for males only/predominantly (I have yet to see a girlname-kun) who are younger or perhaps same age. It doesn't matter how old you actually are, i.e. a sixty year old could call you -kun if you're 59. I have yet to see this, though, probably because kun is more used by the younger generations, maybe it's quite recent a word...

- Chan is used as a mark of familiarity and friendship. [edit: It is also very often replaced by "Chin" to refer to girls in Tokyo. I think it's Tokyo dialect but not sure.] It has a feminine implication (so you don't use it for matcho guys) but is still heavily used for men, animals, etc. It doesn't have to be a young or younger person (ex: ojiichan)


This I am 100% sure of.

Then, I take it Sempai is sometimes used for older people in your office/school or very strict families. Once again, doesn't matter how old they are, it is relative to your own age. I don't use it as it can be replaced by "san" at all times.

Sama is for your master, I think.

And one that hasn't been discussed: "nothing".
If you don't put any ending and should refer to the person as san (older or higher status), it is rude, kind of a provocation.
It's ok not to use anything with your friends or younger people, though, but it doesn't indicate the degree of familiarity that kun or chan does. However, if you are very close it can indicate intimacy (i.e. husband and wife).

[Dead Sexy Vocab]

On this episode of Naruto, there was this girl who whined about her "Arashi-niichan," and that was a guy she's bitchin' 'bout.

Can anyone explain that to me?

[Kustom]

On this episode of Naruto, there was this girl who whined about her "Arashi-niichan," and that was a guy she's bitchin' 'bout.

Can anyone explain that to me?

Yeah, niichan is big brother

O-nii-san is the formal way of saying it (it also means a man old enought to be your big brother), but you can exchange san for chan (see my post above) and drop the "o" which is the polite form. You can then attach it to a name. For girls, it becomes neechan

[Dead Sexy Vocab]

Yeah, niichan is big brother

O-nii-san is the formal way of saying it (it also means a man old enought to be your big brother), but you can exchange san for chan (see my post above) and drop the "o" which is the polite form. You can then attach it to a name. For girls, it becomes neechan

Ah, I see. Pretty much helpful to know that, thanks.

What mostly pisses me off are those people who watch WAY too many anime and think they are in a certain series, going around with names like "Sakura-chan," "Sarah-Chan," and sometimes, "Inu-Yasha"...

[Henjin]

I guess this is slightly off-topic, but I had a question... I know that you don't use 'pronouns' for 'you' in Japanese NEARLY as much as you do in English. For the most part, I can get by w/ leaving them out. But sometimes you just need to clarify what you're talking about. But I know that certain 'you' words are only supposed to be used w/in certain groups, and I also know 'anata' has some connotations I'm not 100% clear on, so I'm often at a loss as to what to say. I've heard cases where instead of 'anata no' for instance, they say 'Name-san no.' That seems like a viable alternative, but how common is it? And is it weird? Esp. in a situation w/ someone you just met.

Hope that makes sense.

[nice gaijin]

-君 (kun) is [also] commonly used as a polite ending by, say, a college professor when addressing a student. This can apply to both genders, but is usually used with the surname instead of the first name.

the suffix you add to a name is dependant upon who you are and who you are talking to. Dropping it altogether is either the closest you can get to someone, or the rudest you can be towards them.

[Kustom]

I try to avoid using "anata" (or "kimi", or "omae"!), except when joking around with my girlfriend, because it feels kind of awkward, a bit like saying "Hey, you!" in English. My understanding is that if you know someone's name, you can never go wrong adressing him with it plus some kind of suffix. It's not so often that you need to use "anata" in conversations with complete strangers, but I had to a few times in the train station or in bars when I forget what was naninani-ko's name. I then reluctantly use "anata", but somehow it doesn't feel right... Name-san is definitely the best way to go.
I think the use of "anata" or other similar pronouns might vary a lot with your region too. Somebody with a better understanding of the language please speak.

[nice gaijin]

originally, there were no words for "you" in Japanese. Almost all variations of "you" are variations of "the person before/in front of me." お前 literally means just that (but is pretty rude unless used with good friends); あなた is a mutation of このかた/あのかた which means the person here/there. Other forms are progressively more insulting, despite their seemingly innocuous translations. (貴様、手前）

In general, I find it rude to use these words; when addressing a Japanese person, using their name or title is the most appropriate way to say "you." Like dropping the suffix, using the forms of "you" to refer to someone is either a sign of closeness or just rude.

[Monkey]

Absolutely not! I use -chan for all my female friends and I have yet to be stabbed by their boyfriends... Chan doesn't mean "hot" at all (unless you have a very weird mindset), it means kind of cute but you use it for friends (girls can also call guys chan instead of kun, especially if there is no age difference. I get called chan a lot too)

"Kawaii", cute, is used in plenty of situations by everyone (mostly girls though) to talk about mostly anything (kawaii, steki and oishii constitute about 95% of girls vocabulary on TV). It does not mean "hot" although it could in certain specific situations that I doubt you will encounter. You are in fact encouraged to use it since it's a kind of uncommiting compliment all girls will be happy to hear.

I wasn't saying that -chan means "hot" I was saying that it can imply you think she is hot. Using -chan with a girl can show that you are trying to be overfamiliar with her. Trying to be overfamiliar with a girl in any country tends to mean only one thing...

Girls using -chan for a guy is either because they are trying to be cute or they think the guy is cute.

Kawaii does have a lot of uses. You either hear the literal definition of cute or the other one. When a guy sees a girl he likes the look of he will tend to say "kawai ona" rather than "bijin ona". This situation I have encountered a lot, a very lot.

[Henjin]

Thanks, guys that really cleared things up. I had that impression in my head from somewhere, but constantly using the persons name (even insted of 'your') goes so against any English logic that I wanted to make sure. Thanks again.

[sharpie]

Using no honorifics i.e. -san,-chan,-kun usually means that the person you are addressing has a personal relationship to you, but if you don't know the person or is just being an ass, then it can be considered insulting.

[koku]

ya use their name-san/kun. Infact, if you're a foriegner there, i'd just stick to san to stay neutral. Dont use anata, they might take it the wrong way/go "you know my name why are you using...". but if you really want to piss off a group, find an older group of people and just call them anata-tachi. They will love you and call you sempai/sama after that, do trust :P